Harry's Other Half
by xxjonibaby
Summary: Harry has a twin sister, Heather Potter. They have a secret: one is blind, and the other is deaf. They discover the magical world and their Founder heritage before their eleventh birthday. Together, they are strong. Child abuse, manipulative Dumbledore.
1. Part One: Chapter One

In a cupboard under the stairs, two children sat on an old ragged mattress. The boy had black hair that stuck up in all directions, bright emerald eyes, was dressed in drab clothes much too big for him, and wearing round glasses that were in very poor shape. He also had a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Despite his scrawny gutter-rat appearance, the boy's face glowed with natural curiosity and kindness. His twin sister sitting opposite him looked nearly identical except for subtle differences in her expression, hazel eyes rather than green, longer hair, and a naturally thinner body. They were nine years old and their names were Harry and Heather Potter.

Heather was currently tracing every indention in the wall. She had done it many times before. As her fingers moved over the rough bumps, she created a connect-the-dots picture in her mind.

"Harry, what's the color of the walls?" She asked, turning towards him. It was a game they had made up. Every time she asked, his answer would change and the cupboard under the stairs would become more and more extravagant.

"They're pure gold, Heather. Like the sun. They're so bright!" Harry went on to describe how beautifully decorated the room was. Heather smiled. She was glad she could no longer see what it really looked like. It was easier to pretend that way.

She heard thumps from upstairs and then the sound of the shower running. Uncle Vernon was _not_ a morning person no matter how many times he'd gotten up early for work and they knew better than to draw his attention. She signaled Harry and his mouth shut with an audible clack. An hour from now their aunt would 'wake' them up to fix breakfast. If they were quiet, they wouldn't have anything to worry about.

Heather remembered the day Harry had been very ill and their uncle was woken up by the sound of him dry retching and moaning. He had beaten Harry viciously with his belt and then ordered both of them to complete a long list of difficult chores. Heather had begged for Harry, promising that she would do his chores for him. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to finish all of the chores by the time he got home and she had paid very dearly for it. Even worse, to her at least, Harry lost his hearing when their relatives refused to take him to the hospital.

That had been two years ago. She had gotten used to being blind, although she still had occasional nightmares. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia didn't want anyone to know that she was blind and Harry was deaf because _they _would ask questions. She wasn't sure who _they_ were, but she and Harry obeyed and hid their disabilities. It wasn't too difficult. The connection they shared helped. They had discovered that they could communicate with each other mentally. Since Heather couldn't see the board or read any books, this came in handy. She was well practiced at doing things as normally as possible. With the Dursleys, she had to be. They wouldn't excuse her from cooking just because she couldn't see the stove. In fact, they took pleasure in using their disabilities against them. They always made her paint the shed and then re-do it when she missed a spot. They would separate her from Harry and give him instructions while his back was turned, knowing he couldn't hear so that they could punish him for disobeying. As much as they both loathed the Dursleys, they had learned a lot from them. Harry and Heather didn't trust or depend on anyone but each other. They wished they could, but they knew that they couldn't depend on adults and other kids just didn't understand them. Even if Dudley didn't scare everyone off, Harry and Heather had earned a reputation as 'freaks'.

Although they had no friends and the Dursleys worked them like slaves, they still found ways to enjoy some happiness. They often collected things that the Dursleys threw away: newspapers, magazines, and some old toys of Dudley's. Harry even had a tattered book called _The Hobbit, _which he read aloud to her. At school, they would sneak into the library during recess and Harry would read to her quietly in a corner. Heather suspected the librarian knew about it, but she never interfered. It was a good thing they spent so much time there because it was the one place Dudley would never set foot in. Their cousin and his lousy gang often chased them and beat on them. After a strange incident where they had ended up on the roof, they mutually agreed to spend all of their recesses inside.

Strange things seemed to always happen around them. Harry's hair had grown back overnight after a disastrous haircut, Dudley's birthday cake once exploded in his face when he had taunted Heather, and all four tires of the Dursleys' car had deflated when they mentioned visiting Aunt Marge. Every time something even a little bit out of the ordinary happened, Harry and Heather were blamed. Heather and Harry both agreed that the Dursleys were hiding something from them and they swore to find out what it was.


	2. Part One: Chapter Two

Heather let a sigh slip out as she turned the bacon, the burnt smell reaching her nose. This would be the third time this week that she burnt it. She hoped that the Dursleys would let them eat the burnt pieces. Usually, they only got bread for breakfast and the table scraps, if there were any. She could hear Harry setting the table, the clinking of dishes for the Dursleys and the rustle of Styrofoam plates for them. She wished he could be at her side, telling her when to turn the bacon. Unfortunately, Aunt Petunia had put a stop to that when she saw Harry cooking at the stove with her.

"Is the bacon done yet, girl? The eggs will be getting cold!"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia." She turned off the stove and added the last pieces to the huge stack of bacon next to stove, and carried the plate to the table. She heard Harry grab the plate of eggs and toast behind her.

She sat rigidly as Aunt Petunia threw away the strips of bacon that had been burnt. She was momentarily jealous of Harry, as he didn't have to listen to her bickering. Harry had once joked that she was lucky she didn't have to look at the Dursleys. According to Harry, Dudley looked like a pig in a wig. It was their way of reassuring each other that it wasn't as bad as it seemed. It might be stupid, but they believed it. Maybe she would never see again, but she wouldn't have to see the ugliness in the world either and Harry would never have to hear cruel words.

"Are you even listening, girl? Eat your bread and go mow the lawn before your last day of school!"

She shook herself out of the daze she'd been in and finished her so-called breakfast. She hurried outside to mow the lawn, which Harry had mowed just the day before.

_'Heather, Aunt Petunia is having me doing her ironing. You cannot imagine how fat her hips are.'_

She smiled as she heard her brother's voice in her mind. _'Sure I can, Harry. From what I remember, she looked like a hideous hybrid between an ostrich and a horse.'_

_'Ten points for accuracy! Uh-oh, Aunt Petunia just got in my face for smiling. Better get back to work.'_

An hour later, they were on the bus to go to school. Harry and Heather sat together, as always. Dudley and his gang filled the seats behind them, throwing things at them and calling them rude names. Aunt Petunia would never believe the words Heather learned from Dudley. Harry knew the words as well, because she could never lie when he asked what someone was saying. They once shouted some of them back at Dudley and his friends, but a teacher overheard them. Since then, they stuck to more civilized insults.

"Move it, bat-girl!" Someone yelled as she carefully climbed off the bus. Dudley had started that little nickname, but no one else realized what it meant. They just thought she was crazy. Harry had the misfortune of being called 'freak' just like at home. Almost all the teachers were completely oblivious to the obvious bullying going on, except for their teacher. She was oblivious in a different manner.

Mrs. Wickes hated all the students except for her 'darling son and his little friends'. Many kids called her 'The Wicked Witch'. She was the teacher that had caught them cursing. Her precious son Dennis Wickes also told her that they had been bullying Dudley all year. She had tried very hard to get them expelled. She hated them with a passion and they wouldn't miss her one little bit either.

"Class, today is the last day of school which means no more homework or grades-"

The rest of the class erupted in cheers while Harry and Heather waited for the bombshell.

"You will be moving on to year six after the summer, although some of you should be held back." Heather was sure she was glaring in their direction at this point. "Today will not be a free day, as many of you are foolishly expecting." Heather almost smiled as the rest of the class groaned right on queue. "Today we will practice math skills, which few of you actually possess. If you don't do the work, I will hold you inside for recess."

_'Heather, the library's not going to be open on the last day of school. We should-'_

_'No. I refuse to get in trouble with Wickes on the last day of school. She is practically foaming at the mouth that we didn't get expelled when her wig turned blue. I do not want to be in a room with her without witnesses.'_

_'If we spend recess outside, Dudley will beat us to a pulp.'_

_'Dudley doesn't know that the library won't be open. We could just sneak off during recess and hide behind the school.'_

_'That's a good idea. Or we could just leave school completely.'_

_'Twenty points for deviousness. I'm so proud.'_

_'Shut up.'_

_'I didn't say anything, Harry.' _

The rest of their mental conversation consisted of Harry reading the worksheets to her and telling her how far apart the spaces for the answers were. The hours flew by quickly and soon the class was lined up to go to the cafeteria.

Harry and Heather took their lunch to a table in the corner, and hoped Dudley terrorized someone else today. It seemed luck wasn't with them. Harry nudged her and she knew that Dudley's gang had surrounded them. There were four boys in Dudley's gang: Dennis Wickes, Piers Polkiss, Malcolm Lear, and Gordon Zoucks.

"Look what we have here, the freak and the bat-girl."

"Wow, Dudley. It must've taken you hours to come up with that," Harry quipped.

"Days, more like," Heather mocked.

"You shut up!"

"That was a weak comeback, don't you think?"

"Yeah, for a bully he's terrible with insults-"

"Shut up, you little b-"

"-Which is why he resorts to one-syllable curse words." Heather continued, pretending not to have heard him.

"It's sad, really. He might actually seem threatening if he could come up with better insults."

"Shut your mouth, freak. Dudley is the most threatening guy here," Dennis Wickes jeered, "Do you need another reminder?"

"He may be the fattest-"

"And the stupidest-"

"But he is not the most threatening."

_'Yeah, it's only him plus four that scare us.'_

_'Harry, don't forget the fact that if he sat on us we'd probably die.' _

_'Right, that too.'_

Grudgingly, they let Dudley take their lunch after Gordon nearly broke Harry's wrist trying to grab it from him. After a few minutes of gloating, the pigs left to collect more lunches.

When recess came, Harry and Heather snuck off school grounds. It was surprisingly the easiest thing they had ever done. They knew that their absence would be noticed eventually and Dudley would tell their Aunt and Uncle, but they wanted to enjoy this. They knew that summer meant more time spent doing chores.

"Where are we going to go?"

"We could go back to the house. It's not very far. No one will be home, so we can search the house and discover what the big secret is," Heather suggested.

A half hour later they were opening the door to their aunt and uncle's bedroom. They were absolutely forbidden from entering it. Heather was a little nervous at what they might find. She stood by while Harry carefully went through the dressers. She heard him move to the closet.

"Heather, I found something! It's a trunk."

"What are you waiting for? Open it!"


	3. Part One: Chapter Three

Harry turned back to the closet and touched the leather trunk reverently. Somehow, he just knew that whatever was in this trunk would change everything. He opened the trunk and was amazed at what he saw. It seemed to be stuff from Aunt Petunia's past. There were several photo albums. He flipped open the topmost album and saw a family photograph. There were two teenage girls in the picture and one was obviously a younger Aunt Petunia. The other girl had long red hair and startling green eyes, just like his. Her parents' arms were around her in a warm embrace, while Petunia was standing off to the side. Harry was looking at his mother for the first time.

"Heather, there are pictures of our mother in here. There are also a lot of letters, some of them are unopened." Harry saw Heather's expression light up and then fall suddenly. "What's wrong?"

He watched her lips carefully as she spoke. '_I wish I could see them._' Harry bit his lip as he tried to think of something to say to that. He couldn't think of anything. He had never hated the Dursleys more than at this moment. He looked at the picture again and he too wished Heather could see how beautiful their mother had been.

'_Harry, are you doing this? I can see it!'_

'_What? What do you mean you can see it?'_

'_I can see the picture in my mind. I can see our mum and our grandparents, Harry! I can see it all clearly from your point of view!' _

Harry stared at his sister as she jumped up and down, smiling from ear to ear. This was the first time she could see anything since what happened and he couldn't believe it was even possible. Maybe it had something to do with being twins. If twin telepathy made sense, why couldn't they share vision through their minds the same way? He remembered how excited he had been when he heard her voice in his mind for the first time. He was glad his sister could have something back. He made a promise to himself to show her as much as he could with this new-found ability. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to keep whatever it was going for long and Heather informed him when the image faded. Neither of them were too disappointed. The discovery was still exciting. "We should go through some of these letters. They might tell us the secret."

'_Read away, dear brother.'_

"It's weird. All these letters are made out of thick parchment." He grabbed one of the opened letters at random and began to read it aloud.

"_Dear Mum and Dad, _

_Hogwarts is even more amazing than Diagon Alley. The ceiling of the Great Hall is enchanted to look like the night's sky, just like it said in Hogwarts, A History. We were sorted into houses by a hat! It must have had some kind of animation spell on it. The four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff. The hat took nearly forever to sort me. It said I would do well in Ravenclaw because of my cleverness, but for some reason it really wanted to put me in Slytherin. In the end it chose Gryffindor though, which is known for bravery. _

_I've already made some friends. Alice Prewett is really nice and got sorted into Gryffindor just like me. Remus Lupin is a quiet boy, though I worry because he looks a bit ill. He is also a Gryffindor. Most of my new housemates are very nice, except for two immature boys. Sirius Black and James Potter pulled a prank on Alice and me at breakfast this morning. They're also very mean to a boy I am trying to be friends with. He looks like he needs one. _

_I have double potions with the Slytherins today. It reminds me a bit of Chemistry. I can't wait! _

_Tell Petunia I said hello. Is she still angry with me? _

_Love, _

_Lily."_

Harry stared at the letter, re-reading it a second and third time. He couldn't understand what it meant. "What the bloody hell does that mean?" He turned to Heather to see her looking just as confused as he felt. 'I don't know. Read another one, Harry.'

"_Dear Petunia Dursley née Evans,_

_I understand that you and your sister had a minor difference in opinion and that you had not recently been in contact. I regret to inform you that your sister and her husband are dead. They were murdered by a powerful wizard calling himself Lord Voldemort. He tried to kill your nephew as well, but was unsuccessful. Lily sacrificed herself, providing young Harry with powerful protection. Voldemort has been defeated for the time being, but I fear he will be back. You must take in your niece and nephew. There are several charms which will keep Harry safe as long as he lives with a blood-relative of his mother. His mother's sacrifice was in blood, and therefore yours will keep him safe. I have already arranged your custody of them with the Ministry of Magic. The Department of Muggle Relations has ensured you have legal custody in the Muggle world as well. I realize it may seem troublesome raising another two children, but it is for the greater good._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, _

_Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."_

Harry felt like his head was spinning as he processed this new information. "Our mum was a witch?"

Heather heard Harry's words echo in her ears. This explained so much and yet it gave her so many more questions. She listened as Harry ranted aloud.

"They lied to us! Our parents weren't drunks, there was no car crash, and magic exists! Our parents could do magic. We probably can too. Maybe that's why we can communicate mentally and the reason all that weird stuff happened around us. We were doing magic!"

'_Harry, calm down. You're missing the most important part of the letter.'_

"What?"

"This Dumbledore left us with the Dursleys! He even knew that our mum and Aunt Petunia didn't get along. He arranged custody and told her after the fact through a letter. He practically said that he would do anything to make her take us in because it was all for the greater good! It's his fault." She didn't need to say anything more.

"You bet it is," Aunt Petunia said angrily as she came into the room.

Heather jumped a mile high and she heard Harry shuffle away from the closet.

"That old fool forced you two on us. We made it very clear we wanted nothing to do with freaks when my sister sent us an invitation to her wedding. She gets herself blown up and the next morning we find the two of you on our doorstep with that letter. We had to take you in and you two were nothing but trouble! I just knew you would turn out the same as my sister, just as _unnatural."_

Heather listened as her Aunt ranted about her sister and Dumbledore's manipulations. She finally slowed down and Heather found it safe to ask a question. "Aunt Petunia, what is Diagon Alley?" She held her breath and hoped that her instincts were correct.

"It's a shopping centre in that freakish world of theirs. You enter through a pub in London that's invisible to normal people."

"Can you take us there?"

"Why would I do that? You should be in school, not going through things that are none of your business! You are both in serious trouble when Vernon gets home!"

"If you take us to the gateway to the magical world, we'll stay there for the rest of the summer."

"Go outside and prune the flowerbeds," she snapped at them, but Heather could tell that she was thinking about it.


	4. Part One: Chapter Four

Two days later Aunt Petunia had still not said anything about Diagon Alley or told her husband what had happened. She ignored them both except to tell them their chores. Heather decided it was time to confront her aunt. She waited until everyone except her aunt was asleep. She knew her aunt would be up for two more hours sanitizing everything. She left Harry asleep in the cupboard and approached her aunt in the kitchen.

"What do you want, girl?"

"When will you take us to London?"

"Why should I take you? Who would do all your chores? Besides, that old fool would never have left you here without some kind of spy on us. He would want to know if we tried to get rid of you."

"What if you supposedly took us with you on vacation?"

"Explain," Aunt Petunia said shortly.

Heather took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Her heart was racing furiously. This could be her chance! She had to do this right. "A few times, you took us with you to visit Aunt Marge," Heather said calmly, inwardly flinching from the memories. "After what happened when she visited us last time, I'm sure Dumbledore knows how much she despises Harry and me. So if you were to visit her again he wouldn't think anything of it and you could drop us off in London."

"It would be nice to get rid of you for once and enjoy our vacation. I'll talk to your uncle. Now, get back to your cupboard."

Heather and Harry were anxiously awaiting Uncle Vernon's verdict as they served lunch the next day. Heather knew that he was tempted to get rid of them for a whole summer, but didn't want them to enjoy themselves. Then there was the fact that it involved the magical world.

"You want to go to this Daganolly?" Their Uncle asked in a gruff voice.

"Actually," Heather contradicted, "We don't want to go. We need to go there. We're going to have to attend Hogwarts a year from now and it would be a good idea to explore the magical world and get some books. We wouldn't want anyone to discover our disabilities..."

_'Are you insane?' _

_'Do you want to go to Diagon Alley or not?'_

_'Yeah, but you just threatened-'_

"Finish your chores. We'll be leaving tomorrow morning. If this house isn't spotless, you won't be going," their uncle said angrily.

'_Well, it worked didn't it?'_

Harry and Heather not only did their assigned chores, but also did things that they weren't told to do. Heather saw it as making sure that the Dursleys didn't come up with a last-minute excuse to leave them behind. Harry did it out of gratitude. Heather gave an exasperated sigh. Sometimes her brother was clever and cunning, but most of the time he was just so...She didn't know what he was! He was never meek when they were taunting Dudley and standing up for themselves, but in front of Uncle Vernon he turned into a mouse. Of course, his punishments had always been a lot worse than hers. Because she was a girl, their uncle didn't hit her. Except for when he blinded her, which hadn't been his intention, he had never laid a hand on her. Her aunt had smacked her a few times, but not too seriously. Dudley was the only one that didn't care about hitting her. She felt terrible that Harry got worse treatment than she did, but there hadn't been anything she could do about it. In fact, she suspected that her uncle punished him twice as badly in her place. Harry of course didn't see it that way. He felt terrible about how the Dursleys treated_ her_.

Heather sensed her brother near her and knew he had finished his half of the chores. She put away the cleaning supplies. The Dursleys were packing and any minute now would need them to carry the luggage out to the car.

As they stuffed the Dursleys' heavy bags into the trunk, Heather heard their neighbor Mrs. Figg ask their aunt where they were going. Harry manipulated their mental connection, purposely this time, and she saw Mrs. Figg. She kept glancing anxiously at Harry and asking when they would be back.

'_Look like we found Dumbledore's spy.'_

'_She doesn't seem like a witch.'_

Heather gave a mental shrug. _'It's so obvious now. She was always babysitting us. She's been reporting everything back to Dumbledore like a good little puppet.'_

'_I think Aunt Petunia knows it's her.'_

'_Are you sure? She snubs everyone.'_

'_She's making that face though. The one she makes when she's looking at us.'_

'_Oh you mean the one that says she hates our freakish existence?'_

'_Yep, that's the one.'_

'_I think she knows it's her.'_

Their uncle came outside of the house and yelled at them to get in the car or they would be left behind. They did as they were told and then waited twenty minutes for Dudley to get all his extra toys.

They ended up leaving forty minutes behind schedule when Aunt Petunia went to ask Marsha to look after her flowers and ended up gossiping. They stopped four times on the way there to get Dudley something to eat. Finally, they were there. The Dursleys dropped them off in a busy part of London and pointed them in the right direction. They found what they were looking for after an hour of walking and getting lost twice. They nearly missed it, but Harry noticed someone dressed oddly and followed them into the shady pub.

The first thing Harry and Heather did was get a table in the back and observe all the people. Most of them were dressed in robes and cloaks, though some were wearing mismatched clothes. A few of the patrons didn't look entirely human and Heather asked Harry to break the connection when she saw what some of them were eating. Her stomach rolled and she turned her thoughts to other things. Like how they would get a room without any money. She knew about Gringrotts, the wizard bank, but she wasn't so sure they would have any money there. Also, they didn't have a key even if they did have a vault and they were just kids. Surely they wouldn't be allowed to get any money?

They followed a wizard through the back into the entry to Diagon Alley. Harry again opened the connection, though she could sense it was tiring him out, and she got a good look at the shops as they passed by them. The Apothecary, Quality Quidditch Supplies (what was Quidditch?), Magical Menagerie, Flourish and Blotts, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Ollivander's, Florean Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlor, Gambles and Japes…and many more stores were crammed into the alley. Straight ahead was a huge, white building with tall, bronze doors. A goblin stood beside the door, like an usher, but scary. In a scarlet and gold uniform, grimacing rather than smiling and showing very sharp teeth. She wondered briefly how much he was paid to stand there all day.

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floors, _

_A treasure that was never yours, _

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

She wondered who would be nuts enough to try to rob this bank. The goblins were threatening enough in appearance, but the ominous hint in the poem convinced her that they didn't rely on that alone to ward off thieves. She wondered if the wizarding world had heard of bombs. She imagined all sorts of nasty booby traps for the unsuspecting idiot. She shuddered. She admired these creatures, but she would _never_ get on their bad side.

They approached the counter together, Heather a bit more wary than Harry. Harry had an easier time believing that their parents left them something, but Heather didn't want to get her hopes up. The goblin at the counter looked down at them. "How may I help you?" he asked unpleasantly. Harry spoke first.

"We wanted to know if our parents left us anything?" he blurted out.

"What is your name?"

"Harry James Potter and this is my sister, Heather Rosemary Potter," he said quickly.

"I see. From your question, I am assuming you do not have your key."

"No, sir," Heather spoke up. "Would it be possible to get a new one?"

"Follow me." The goblin lead them into a small, but nicely furnished office. "We cannot just give you a new key. We have to perform an Inheritance spell. It will basically map out your ancestry and inform us of any vaults that you have a right to."

Heather and Harry had blood taken from them. They really only needed Harry's blood, but having hers too would make the spell stronger apparently. The goblins were very secretive about the spell process. Most purebloods were obsessed with their ancestry and the goblins didn't want the spell to be misused. They even had to sign a magical legal document that would cause nasty repercussions if they told anyone about the Goblin spell. Harry and Heather waited nervously for twenty minutes before he came back. He was calm, but Heather thought he looked at them a little oddly.

"We found that you have indeed inherited the Potter family vault, as well as a trust fund. There are also two other vaults. They are very old and have remained untouched for nearly a thousand years. The descendants were believed to have died out." He sat down behind his desk and looked at them very seriously. "Mr. Potter, you are the sole heir of Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin."


	5. Part One: Chapter Five

Harry stuttered, trying to form some semblance of an intelligent response and failing. Heather turned her attention back to the goblin. "Wait a minute; you said Harry was the _sole_ heir? Shouldn't I be an heir as well?"

"While you have inherited half of all money from the Potter vault as specified in your parents' will, girls do not usually inherit so much money or any family titles unless they are the only option, in which case it is merely temporary until they have a son to pass them on to. Your brother on the other hand, is the heir of Potter, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. When he comes of age, he will be Lord Potter and hold the titles of Lord Slytherin and Lord Gryffindor. He will also inherit three seats in the full Wizengamot. The only reason he cannot claim Lordship now is because of your relatives' guardianship. Normally, when the last of a family line is orphaned, their legal status would change automatically to Lord or Heiress, making them an emancipated minor regardless of their age. If they had godparents, it would become their duty to look after the child until the child was of a reasonable age. The oath they made when they became godfather or godmother would prevent them from taking any action that was not in the best interest of the child. If the child did not have godparents, a solicitor would be appointed and he or she would swear the same oath and perform the same legal duties. The solicitor could choose to raise you themselves or find a relative or foster family to place you with. They would still be required to check up on you and ensure that you were well-treated. In your case, no solicitor was appointed and neither of you were ever declared emancipated. How this happened is a mystery. Gringrotts' information indicates that a confidentiality spell is keeping the legal documents pertaining to your parents and yourselves hidden. There are very few people in the wizarding world who have the authority and excuse to cast such a spell."

"Dumbledore," Heather sighed bitterly, remembering the letter. Harry muttered a few choice words under his breath.

The goblin remained silent.

"Besides your trust funds, you are able to access the Gryffindor and Slytherin vaults. The spell that prevents you or anyone else from touching the Potter vault until you are of age does not apply to them."

"We would like to be taken to those two then," Heather said.

"Please," Harry added.

The goblin called another goblin, Griphook, to take them to both vaults. When Heather saw the small cart and the rails sloping downwards she begged Harry to keep up the visual aid a little longer. It would be terrifying not to see where they were going. Besides, she was curious. She let out a scream when the cart picked up speed. The twists and turns were very sharp and she imagined her guts ending up in knots. Harry seemed to enjoy it more than she did. At one point, there was a burst of fire and Heather shouted to the goblin to ask what it was. He smirked and told her it was a dragon guarding one of the vaults. She decided a live dragon was much worse than a bomb.

"Vault four hundred and three," Griphook announced as the cart lurched to a sudden stop. Heather was sure her heart was thrown to the back of her throat. She gave the cart a nasty glare as she climbed out.

Harry was instructed to put his hand onto the door. He yanked his hand back startled after it took some of his blood. They could hear tumblers and the door opened. Harry communicated that he felt like he was going to faint. Heather was feeling a bit faint herself. It was so big the Dursleys' house would fit with room left over. An entire wall was lined with ancient books, while half of the room was dedicated to a collection of armor and weapons. War hammers, maces, flails, spears, daggers, and swords of all kinds were hung on the walls. A mountain-sized pile of gold towered in the center of the vault. There were also several trunks. As she walked over to them blindly (Harry was looking in the other direction), she wondered what was in them.

"Clothes and jewelry most likely," the goblin said. Heather hadn't realized she'd spoken aloud. "As you can see, Godric Gryffindor had an array of weapons. His most famous sword, however, seems to be missing from the collection. The books are likely either about dueling or sword fighting. Godric was famous for both and hardly interested in anything else. If there are other books, he probably hadn't read them."

Harry started to speak, offended on their ancestor's behalf and Heather repressed the urge to snicker. "Here, you scoop up some money into this bag and I'll grab some books."

"But-"

She blindly walked over to the bookshelves and grabbed five randomly. When they got back into the cart, Harry looked at the titles. As Griphook had predicted, they were all on dueling, but Godric Gryffindor wrote one of them.

Salazar Slytherin's vault was much more interesting, to Heather at least. It was about the same size, with much less gold. There were many more books though, lining every wall. He'd had some armor and weapons, but very few compared to Gryffindor. The most interesting find was an enormous collection of rare and extinct potion ingredients perfectly preserved and a set of solid gold and silver cauldrons.

"Salazar Slytherin was a famous Potions Master and practitioner of the Dark Arts. He was also a master Occlumens and Legilimens."

"What does that mean?" Harry and Heather asked.

"As a Legilimens, he was capable of intruding into someone's mind. An Occlumens is the complete inverse. He could also protect his mind from other Legilimens. Only very powerful wizards are capable of mastering either and yet he mastered both Legilimency and Occlumency."

'_We should become Occlumens to shield our minds.'_

'_I don't want someone in my head,' _Harry agreed. _'Well, except you.'_

'_Grab some books on Occlumency then, so that we can learn it.'_

They left Slytherin's vault and rode the cart once more. Heather was glad to get out of it for the last time and happily followed Harry out of Gringrotts, careful to stay close to him (once again blind).

They spent over an hour in Flourish and Blotts and ended up buying _A History of Magic__, __The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts__, __Modern Magical History__, __Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century__, __The Standard Book of Spells__ (Grade 1), __Magical Theory__, __A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration__, __One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi__, __Goshawk's Guide To Herbology__, __Magical Plant Species Among Muggles__, __Magical Drafts and Potions__, __A Beginner's Guide to Potions__, __Potions__ (So Easy Your House-Elf Could Brew Them), __Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them__, __The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection__, __Curses and Counter-curses__ (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying, and Much, Much More), __Quidditch Through the Ages__, __Innoxious Incantations__ (Spells That Aren't __Good For Anything), __Easy Spells to Fool Muggles__, __Muggles Who Notice__, _and _Hogwarts, A History_.

At Madam Malkin's they purchased casual robes so that they would blend in with the crowd. They bought several in black, navy, dark green, scarlet and in Heather's case, purple. They mutually agreed to go shopping in muggle London another time.

Harry wanted to buy a broomstick, while Heather wanted to explore Knockturn Alley. It was getting dark though so they didn't do either.

Back at the Leaky Cauldron, they paid for a room and had dinner brought up. It had been easier than Harry thought it would be. A faked letter from their "uncle" and Heather lying through her teeth and they had a room for the rest of the summer under aliases Henry and Mary Evans. They'd fudged a bit about their age, of course.

Heather sat down on one of the beds and flipped through one of the books they'd bought.

"Uh, Heather, you're holding it upside down."

"What are we going to do when I have to read textbooks at Hogwarts?"

"From what the shopkeeper said, I'd wager we've already got most of them. I could show the books to you and read them aloud until you have them practically memorized," Harry offered.

"Harry, that's brilliant! Would you?"

"Of course. It wouldn't kill me to study," he sighed melodramatically.

Heather grinned. "I don't know why you act like you hate it so much. Do you know how hard it is for me to get your attention once you're absorbed in your schoolbooks?"

"But do you always have to get my attention like that?"

"Yes," Heather said simply, trying to hold back her laughter.

Harry grinned mischievously and snuck towards his sister. He saw her frown and that was when he took action. "Oh yeah," He started tickling her ribs. "How do you like it?"

Heather shrieked and tried to roll away, arms pushing at her brother and legs kicking wildly. "N-N-No fair," she gasped out between laughter. "Ouch!" she screamed suddenly. The tickling stopped instantly.

"Oh my god, are you alright?"

Heather took advantage and quickly pushed her brother onto the floor and sat on him. "Never let down your guard, Harry!" she cried triumphantly as she tickled him.

Having won that round, Heather was very smug for all about two minutes until a pillow smacked her in the face.

The impromptu pillow fight ended when someone _growled_ at them from outside their door, then banged on it hard enough to make it shake on its hinges. Properly scared, they settled down to sleep.

Heather dreamed that night.

_She was standing in pitch darkness. She felt around, but her hands only caught air. 'Heather…Never let down your guard,' she heard. She turned around. 'Who's there?' The voice was silent, then it magnified, echoing. 'Never let your guard down, never let down your guard.' She ran away from the voice, stumbling in the darkness. The voice followed her, taunting her, 'Never let down your guard.' She could faintly hear another voice calling her name. 'Harry, where are you? Help me!' Again, she heard 'Never let your guard down. Heather, Heather, Heather…' She ran fast, everything was a blur of shadowy shapes. Suddenly, something caught her by the arm. She was rooted to the spot. The kitchen was bright, there was a dishrag in her hand. She wasn't finished. Her uncle stood over her, his face dangerously purple. 'Never let down your guard,' she whispered. She screamed._


	6. Part One: Chapter Six

__

He was on fire. Sweat ran down his forehead, his head thrummed with pain, and his ears hurt. His throat felt raw and he wondered why, confused. Then he was retching again, only there wasn't anything to throw back up. He shoved his knuckles in his mouth, vainly trying to stop the moan that escaped his lips. A large hand grabbed his arm in a painful grip and dragged him out of the cupboard. He collapsed on the floor, heaving. He heard something, knew his Uncle was yelling, but couldn't quite make it out. When the belt connected with his backside, he screamed.

Harry jerked awake from his nightmare. He wondered if he had screamed aloud. Furiously, he wiped his face with his pajama sleeve. Rolling over, he caught sight of Heather in bed across the room. By the light of the moon, he saw tears making tracks down her face. He was at her side, trying to shake her awake before it even registered in his mind that he had moved. He yelled her name. 'Harry, where are you? Help me!' he saw her lips move before her face twisted in pain. She was screaming.

"Heather!" he yelled her name with more force than before. Her eyes snapped open and she was clinging to him as if he was her lifeline. He saw her shoulders shake, her body racking with her sobs.

"It's okay, I'm here. I had a nightmare too," he assured her quietly in what he hoped was a soothing tone.

Heather wiped away her tears and was looking calmer, although the red-rimmed puffy eyes gave her away. She smiled at him half-heartedly. 'Well, I can't go back to sleep now. What time is it?'

"After five," he guessed, looking out the window. "I guess we could get an early start. Let's get ready and have some breakfast and then we'll hit London."

"We need to go to Gringrotts first, Harry." She could practically feel his blank stare. "To exchange galleons into pounds, silly," she clarified.

"Oh. I knew that."

"Sure you did, brother dear."

They wore their nice new robes over their old clothes from the Dursleys. Harry wore Dudley's hand-me-downs that were at least five times too big while Heather had badly outdated clothes that their aunt had dug out of the attic. Their clothes were so raggedy that they were both understandably desperate for new ones.

Breakfast was a quick affair, after which they practically ran towards Gringrotts.

"May I help you?"

Heather took the initiative this time. "We need to exchange galleons into muggle money." She put the amount Harry had counted out onto the counter in front of the same goblin from yesterday.

"This is quite a large sum. May I make a suggestion?"

"Uh, sure," Heather said lamely.

"Rather than carry all this money on your person, you could acquire a credit card instead."

"Wizards have credit cards?"

"Most wizards do not. It only works in the muggle world, just like an ordinary credit card except that it draws directly from your vaults here."

"Okay, we'll do that then. We'll still need some muggle money for taxi fare."

After that was done, the goblin led them into a small room with a modern telephone and told them the street address for the Leaky Cauldron (or rather one of the stores next to it). Their surprise must have shown on their faces for he explained that goblins were not as ignorant as wizards were about muggle inventions. Harry thanked the goblin and called for a taxi.

The taxi took them to a shopping district where Harry easily identified the most expensive store. Aunt Petunia had a lot of catalogues from the place. He opened his mind to Heather and showed her.

She noticed that they were getting some funny looks and wondered if it was because of the robes or the ugly clothes underneath.

Entering the store, they were intercepted by a stuck-up blonde woman with a patronizing attitude. Heather quickly got sick of her asking if they were lost and whipped out the credit card.

"If you don't mind, my brother and I are in serious need of suitable clothes. Could you perhaps fetch someone to assist us?"

"I can help you," she said quickly.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Heather said just as snobbishly. She noticed a younger woman watching them and pointed at her. "She can help us."

The young woman introduced herself as Robyn. Harry and Heather could tell that she was curious, but she didn't want to pry.

"So, what are you looking for today?"

"Um, we need everything," Harry answered quietly, embarrassed.

"Everything?"

Heather sighed. "Our guardians didn't exactly go out of their way to buy clothes for us. Our parents left us money, but we only discovered that recently. So we're in need of a full wardrobe."

The woman clearly didn't know what to say, but she quickly got to work. Soon they each had piles of clothes to try on. Heather was currently waiting on Harry to finish up while her feet were being measured for shoes.

Harry came out of the dressing room, followed by the man Robyn had fetched to assist him. Heather was blind, but she was almost positive that her brother's face was red again.

He had yelped soon after he'd gone in, which made Robyn explain in amused tones that the assistant was dressing him.

Heather smirked.

'_It's not funny.'_

'_Yes, it is.'_

'_Wait until it happens to you.'_

'_I don't see why I should care.' _

Harry huffed.

'_Stop pouting. Did you get everything?'_

'_Yeah. Play clothes, poncy clothes, underclothes, and night clothes,' _he ticked off._ 'More clothes than I can wear in a year.'_

Being blind made it very difficult to shop, but she trusted Robyn to pick out good-looking clothes. The woman kept up a constant stream of comments as she dressed her in all the different shirts, trousers, and dresses. Heather didn't think she was faking any compliments and she did toss some clothes into a "not" pile. Heather directed most of the dresses into the pile as well. A few were permitted that were comfortable and didn't sound too formal or flowery.

The children sighed in relief when they finally left the store. Two assistants helped Robyn carry all their boxes to the taxi Harry waved down.

"Where to?"

"Um, the nearest book store that you can find please."

From what they'd learned so far of Hogwarts, it didn't offer courses on science, maths, or even grammar. They intended to get books that would help them keep up in those subjects.

Luckily the bookstore they came to was very large and the assistant was easily able to find textbooks and relevant materials for them. To their amusement, the store even carried a series of books with titles such as '_Basic Math and Pre-Algebra for Dummies__'_. They purchased all of the "for dummies" books that had anything to do with secondary education. They looked more interesting than the textbooks and it couldn't hurt to have a second source.

They left the bookstore with their bags and climbed back into the taxi that they'd asked to wait for them.

The taxi's final stop was at a store where Harry got his eyes checked and ordered three pairs of brand-new glasses. The old pair he'd worn had not only been a weak prescription, but also the wrong _type_ of prescription. As it turned out, Harry was farsighted. He could see things at a distance much better than things closer to him. Heather had to convince him to buy more than one pair, arguing that if his glasses broke while they were at school he would be stuck without a backup. The first pair of glasses that he picked out were a cross between round and oval shaped and had a flexible silver frame. He couldn't decide between oval rimless frames and rectangular black plastic frames, so he got both. The latter he asked to be made with transition lenses, which sounded useful. Heather bought two pairs of non-prescription glasses, pink-tinted sunglasses with an oval gold wire frame and a pair with transition lenses exactly like Harry's. She was able to walk out of the store with hers, while Harry arranged to pick his up in three weeks.

When Harry asked why she got them, she shrugged and admitted that she liked it when people said how identical they were. If they both wore their transition glasses, they'd look even more alike.

This sparked an idea and Heather dragged Harry into the neighboring store. It was a beauty salon. There she got her hair cut until she really did look exactly the same as Harry, except for their eyes. She also bought hair products including some gel and hair pretties.

Not giving time for Harry to do more than gape, she tugged him into the glasses shop again and hastily ordered hazel and green contacts for each of them, respectively.

They were back in the taxi and headed towards the Leaky Cauldron, when Harry finally spoke up.

"What was that about?"

"Well, I had an idea. I mean how great would it be if we could switch places? Not just at the Dursleys', but at school too."

Harry studied her excited face and realized what she meant. The Dursleys always set them to more difficult tasks based on their disabilities. If they switched places, those tasks would be a breeze. At Hogwarts, if they were sorted into different houses, they could experience what the other's house was like. It could be a lot of fun, too.

"Alright," he agreed. "But what if we get caught?"

"How could we get caught? If somehow they suspect us, just deny it until their ears ring. I doubt they would be able to do anything about it. Besides, we won't give them reason to suspect. We'll practice at acting and sounding like each other. And looking more like each other," she added. "You can wear each of your glasses on different days, random-like. Then, when I'm pretending to be you, I'll wear my transition glasses on top of my contacts. You'll wear just the contacts, since they're already prescription. We can fix our hair a bit different too." She shook the bag of hair pretties in front of his face.

He groaned. "Those are for girls."

"They're also for boys pretending to be girls," she said smugly.

Harry stuck his tongue out petulantly.

The driver turned around and announced they were at the address they'd given him. He had a big grin on his face, which embarrassed Harry when he realized that the driver had probably heard every word.

Heather smirked and paid the man, adding a generous tip.

They waited until the taxi rounded the corner before entering the Leaky Cauldron.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry about the long wait..I'll try to be better. I did some editing in the previous chapters, especially chapter 5. I advise re-reading that chapter as there is one part that is specific to the plot.


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